Since World War II, the United States Department of Defense installations in Utah have become increasingly important to the state's economy. Defense spending has been the single most important factor in the number of new jobs created in Utah since 1940. These installations also purchase millions worth of products annually from Utah businesses. Without these federal enterprises, Utah would undoubtedly be adversely affected.

See: Leonard J. Arrington, The Price of Prejudice, The Japanese-American Relocation Center in Utah During World War II, (1962); Leonard J. Arrington and Thomas G. Alexander, Federal Military Installations in Utah, 1858-1966, (1966) (this is a collection of a series of articles that appeared in the Utah Historical Quarterly and the Pacific Historical Review; Leonard J. Arrington and Anthony T. Cluff, Federally-Financed Industrial Plants Constructed in Utah During World War II, (1969); James L. Clayton, "The Impact of the Cold War on the Economies of California and Utah, 1946-1965,"Pacific Historical Review, 36 (Nov. 1967): 449-473.

Thomas G. Alexander and Rick J. Fish